According to Punch, a soldier who simply identified himself as David made this known while dispersing a crowd of youths and market women who had gathered at the scene, warning them that anything could still happen.

Officer David told the crowd: “We are not happy that we are here. Some of us have been here since 11 pm yesterday (Friday). We have not taken our bath.

“Do you think we will go near the scene if we don’t have bomb detectors. We have recovered three explosives that had not exploded.”

Addressing the Punch reporter, he said: “This is the third time I am coming here to disperse them. Some of them are criminals. They want to steal the goods that had been left here by some of the traders so that it would be blamed on soldiers.”